Plan Ahead with Lightning Lane Entry at Walt Disney World Starting July 24

[davidhhh]

First, let me emphasize that I'm answering your questions based on what I've read, not what I've done. Whenever I've done an Orlando split stay between Disney and Universal, I've done my Disney park days while staying at Disney. You're reading Post 4290 differently than I do. Your first offsite day is September 4 (you moved into the Days Inn on the 3rd, but that counts as an onsite day since you stayed at AS Sports the night before); your 14-day ticket starts earlier. Therefore, you can buy/book lightning lanes for the remaining days of your ticket on September 1, which is three days before your first offsite day. You don't have to wait until September 9 or September 13. Am I 100% sure of that? No, but I'm pretty sure of it. One way to find out is to try to book those days on September 1. If MDE won't let you do it, it'll show what days you can book those days. Even if you fail, little will be lost by trying to book your lightning lanes on September 1. You don't need to get up at 7:00 AM to do it; do it when you're awake anyway. If you wait until September 9 to try, you may have lost 8 days' priority.

You'll have to prioritize the 14-day ticket. As the prior poster indicated, going to Guest Services is one way to do it. I believe it can also be done by calling Disney IT. There may be a way to do it yourself, but I can't give you a step-by-step on how to do that.

Yes, on August 24, you can buy/book lightning lanes for your onsite days. (That was the easy question.)

Well, I certainly hope that what you're saying turns out to be true! Obviously, I'd prefer to be able to book all my LLMP's on Aug 24, but that was always too much to hope for, since it would encourage everyone to stay off property and only book burner one night stays on property for the first night of a trip (or even a ticket.)

Still, it seems strange that I could book LLMP's before people actually staying on property for the days around my DHS visit on Sep 12. After all, I'd have access on Sep 1, but they wouldn't be able to book them until the 5th (or 7 days before their check in date.) Hell, I'd have access before anyone checking in after the 8th, which is 4 days before a park visit on the date in question. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take full advantage of this advantage because I'm likely visiting Typhoon Lagoon that morning, and probably both Fun Spots, too, before actually arriving at DHS. So my early advantage LLMP booking times would likely be for mid-afternoon anyways. But I'll take what I can get! And if this does turn out to be true when I try to book on Sep 1, it might cause me to shift around some of my other plans for the trip. But it will also be hard to know how much time I'll really want or need at each park, since it will only be the second day of my trip, and I won't know yet how much I'll have been able to accomplish at those parks early in the trip. But, again, I'll take what I can get!

I'm still wondering if this will also be true for my Epcot visit on Sep 16th. it seems crazy that I could book those LLMP's 15 days earlier on the 1st. That's earlier than anyone could book one with a US purchased ticket, since Disney themselves only sells a maximum of 10 days on one ticket to Americans. (Not counting annual passes, obviously, but few AP holders are likely spending more than 14 days in a row on property!) But, again, I'll take what I can get without complaining!

I'm guessing that this is all because my situation is very rare. After all, how many people are buying multi-day tickets, when they're only using some of the days? The most days they generally sell tickets for (at least in the US) is 10 days. And the hopper version still runs over $750, and closer to $800 with the plus version. But the 14 day Magic ticket they sell in the UK is a huge value (and is even less than the 7 day one they are selling there right now.) And Memory Maker and Plus (water parks, mini golf and sports) are other free bonuses. It's currently around $735 US. But I paid even less on Black Friday, and even less with an extra 20% BF discount. It ended up being around $567 US, less than I'd have paid for a 5-day non-hopper ticket! Right now, attractiontickets is offering an even better deal with the 25% off NEWYEAR promo code, bringing the price down to $552 US, which is insane. (I have no relation to them, other than having bought a ticket.)

Back in the days of non-expiring tickets, I could see people paying many days they didn't plan to use on their first visit, but few likely do now. So, I'll take my win!