Lightening Lane cost question when Park Hopping

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

I was wondering how this works. I know the cost of LLMP is dependant on both what day you go and what park you attend and the cost will inevitably be different based on the park you attend. If my day starts at AK, which is usually the lowest cost LLMP and I park hop later in the day to MK, is my cost then simply whatever the charge is for AK? We have a six day trip planned and I wasn't thinking of getting the LLMP at AK, but if we park hop to MK or DHS then maybe it makes sense to get it for AK knowing that I can then use it at MK which normally would have been a much higher cost. Thoughts or suggestions. We are going end of September, no kids, and I know across the WDW parks there will be a lot of ride closures. Any parks you'd avoid getting the LLMP?

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

Correct.
You pay for LLMP for AK and use it at AK and then PH to another park and do not pay more.

 

[Minnie1222]

Just be aware that the LLs you want at MK and HS may be gone by the time you tap in at AK.

 

[Tom_E_D]

I was wondering how this works. I know the cost of LLMP is dependant on both what day you go and what park you attend and the cost will inevitably be different based on the park you attend. If my day starts at AK, which is usually the lowest cost LLMP and I park hop later in the day to MK, is my cost then simply whatever the charge is for AK? We have a six day trip planned and I wasn't thinking of getting the LLMP at AK, but if we park hop to MK or DHS then maybe it makes sense to get it for AK knowing that I can then use it at MK which normally would have been a much higher cost. Thoughts or suggestions. We are going end of September, no kids, and I know across the WDW parks there will be a lot of ride closures. Any parks you'd avoid getting the LLMP?

Yes, if you buy LLMP for AK, you only pay the lower AK price and can later book attractions at the other parks you will be park hopping to. However, you cannot book LLMP reservations at the other parks until you have actually tapped into an attraction at AK. So, you will have lost the book-7-days-ahead advantage if staying onsite or the book-3-days-ahead advantage if offsite with respect to those other parks. That's why some people choose to book/buy their LLMPs for the more expensive parks where it may be harder to get "good" LLMP reservations if you wait until day-of. It's a strategic vs. economic tradeoff. If you think you can book the LLMP reservations you want after tapping into your first attraction at AK, by all means buy the cheaper AK LLMP in the first place.

 

[Mle8308]

To me, it's not worth saving maybe $5 or $6 to buy your LLMP for DAK if you are only doing it to save a few dollars. As others have said, the better LL's for other parks may be long gone by the time you tap into your first DAK LL. You have to go to whatever park you book your first LL for and tap into that attraction before you can start booking at other parks.

 

[Skippyboo]

You lower your chances of getting the more popular LL like Tiana’s , PP and Jungle Cruise. Definitely can probably pick up the lower 2nd tier ones like Dumbo, Speedway, Small World but you lose your advantage of 7 days advance booking.

Last week I had LL for Epcot- Spaceship Earth, Soarin and TT. Spaceship earth was down so I moved it to Living with the Land, did TT single rider so I moved around my LL to HS - picked up TSMM, MMRR, MFSR, SDD. Had to do a lot of refreshing throughout the day.

 

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

Yes, if you buy LLMP for AK, you only pay the lower AK price and can later book attractions at the other parks you will be park hopping to. However, you cannot book LLMP reservations at the other parks until you have actually tapped into an attraction at AK. So, you will have lost the book-7-days-ahead advantage if staying onsite or the book-3-days-ahead advantage if offsite with respect to those other parks. That's why some people choose to book/buy their LLMPs for the more expensive parks where it may be harder to get "good" LLMP reservations if you wait until day-of. It's a strategic vs. economic tradeoff. If you think you can book the LLMP reservations you want after tapping into your first attraction at AK, by all means buy the cheaper AK LLMP in the first place.

Thanks, the 7 day and 3 day window I hadn't thought about. You are right, we'd run the risk of having little to nothing to chose from after we first tap in at AK. If I think the value is sufficient at AK, then whatever I get in a park hop situation is then a bonus. I'm hoping that last few days of Sept and first few days of Oct might be lower crowd levels and there would still be some LLMP availabilty when Park Hopping. Hoping anyway. Thanks for the fresh perspective.

 

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

To me, it's not worth saving maybe $5 or $6 to buy your LLMP for DAK if you are only doing it to save a few dollars. As others have said, the better LL's for other parks may be long gone by the time you tap into your first DAK LL. You have to go to whatever park you book your first LL for and tap into that attraction before you can start booking at other parks.

I would still run into the issue though, if we did the LLMP for MK and booked our three rides 7 days in advance, but went to DAK in the morning and then hopped to MK, my choices would probably be very limited. Definitely something to think about though as we get closer to the trip date. Thanks

 

[jimmymc]

Multipass does work with park hopping, but you can only book at the selected park for your three advance reservations. So if you buy the AK pass, you won't be able to reserve a ride at MK until you start using the AK ride reservations.

 

[Mle8308]

I would still run into the issue though, if we did the LLMP for MK and booked our three rides 7 days in advance, but went to DAK in the morning and then hopped to MK, my choices would probably be very limited. Definitely something to think about though as we get closer to the trip date. Thanks

Why would you do that? Doesn't make sense to book MK LL but go to DAK first. You would have to book afternoon times for the MK, so you would not be able to book anything at DAK because you didn't tap in to the first park/LL. LLMP works best by booking your first attraction as close to opening as possible, so you can use it (or tap in) and then book more. If you are okay with only having possibly 3 LLMP for the day at the MK, then start at DAK and move to the MK, even though it doesn't make any sense.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I would still run into the issue though, if we did the LLMP for MK and booked our three rides 7 days in advance, but went to DAK in the morning and then hopped to MK, my choices would probably be very limited. Definitely something to think about though as we get closer to the trip date. Thanks

We just completed a 4-day visit where we hopped every day and also used LLMP quite extensively, getting 8 or 9 good ones each day. I even posted a thread about this topic a couple of weeks ago.

I’m convinced that this is the best combination of features that Disney has to offer as it does give you quick access to the headliners in multiple parks.

The key is familiarizing yourself with the additional lightning lane drop times times that are scheduled for many attractions.

I was skeptical at first, but quickly found out that this is a valid strategy which works very well. You just have to be quick as they do go fast.