Question About Lightning Lanes

[Disney Dining Dad]

My family last visited Disney World in 2018, so we are going to have an adjustment from the previous Fast Passes to the new Lightning Lanes. My question is...if we purchase a multi-pass for a park and reserve three rides, we can then book additional rides as we use credits?

For example, if I get multi-passes, seven days out, for the four of us to all ride Tiana's, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean at Magic Kingdom, after we are done with one of them that day, we can book another in-demand ride, such as Space Mountain or Jungle Cruise, and could conceivably keep going if our app shows that there are openings?

And also (I guess this is important) -- do we get charged each time we select a fourth, fifth, or sixth ride for that day? Or is the price set with the original multi-pass purchase, and we're now just getting more for our money?

 

[bettertheangel]

You can have three rides booked at any given time and aren't charged for any additional rides beyond the first three. So after you scan into Pirates, you can book Space Mountain while still holding your reserved time for Tiana's and Haunted Mansion. Then after you scan into Tiana's, you can book Jungle Cruise while still holding Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. Etc etc.

Here are a couple of in-depth videos on Lightning Lanes:

 

[scrappinginontario]

You can have three rides booked at any given time and aren't charged for any additional rides beyond the first three. So after you scan into Pirates, you can book Space Mountain while still holding your reserved time for Tiana's and Haunted Mansion. Then after you scan into Tiana's, you can book Jungle Cruise while still holding Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. Etc etc.

Here are a couple of in-depth videos on Lightning Lanes:

Just a note, additional attractions can be booked based upon availability. There are a limited number of LL's that are available for each attraction, each day. LLs will fill to capacity for some attractions so there is no guarantee that a LL will be available after you've used your first one.

 

[Former DVC Owner]

I guarantee the lightning lane for teacups, philharmagic, and Ariel Under The Sea will still be available!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I guarantee the lightning lane for teacups, philharmagic, and Ariel Under The Sea will still be available!

I don’t disagree but OP specifically mentioned booking Jungle Cruise or Space Mountain after using their first LL. Those are both very popular LLs so there is no guarantee they will still be available.

 

[Former DVC Owner]

I guess the real answer is this:

We went in August 8-14 2025. It was a low crowd time. In Magic Kingdom I believe I got fast passes for almost everything, including at least 2 of the tier 1s each day. I just booked a Haunted Mansion or Pirates at 10:00, the other one at 2:00, and my Tiana's Bayou was at like 3:00. That day when I was at MK I scanned into Pirates at 10:00 and immediately was able to get a Space Mt or Jungle Cruise typically in the evening around 5:00.

I'm going next week 4/2-4/10 and I just booked my fast passes this morning. This time I also have a Pirates at 10:00, then at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00 I have Tiana's, Haunted Mansion, 7 Dwarfs, and Tron. Once I scan into Pirates at 10:00 I will attempt to get a Space Mt, Peter Pan, or a Jungle Cruise but I will fail because they'll all be booked. So I'll end up with Little Mermaid or a Tomorrowland Speedway.

So, it depends on crowd level. Higher crowds mean two things: 1) more people will buy Lightning Lane Multipass in the first place, 2) which means all of the "good" rides are typically reserved before that park day. It's possible you'll find a Jungle Cruise at 9:30pm or something once you scan into your first ride at 10:00 AM, but don't count on it. But if you're going on a low crowd time then 1) fewer people buy lightning lanes, 2) so there are a heckuva lot more time slots available for those who did buy lightning lane MP.

My Lightning Lane philosophy is if I'm spending $2,200 to fly (for two of us from JFK, seriously it's $1,100 per person round trip), and $2,000 for tickets (10-days in early April, I think that was the cost), and I'm paying whatever the hotel costs (a few thousand), then I'm definitely spending to get lightning lanes to 'get my money's worth'. Of course the lightning lanes MP is like $35 per person and ILLs are like $20 per person, so that's an average of like $120 per day X 8 days (no LL on arrival or departure day) so I'm in for another $1,000. But it doesn't matter because I already spent so much to get there in the first place I may as well just keep paying and paying! I mean when I was there in August I was paying $15 for two Mickey Ice Cream bars and a coke every four hours because it was so damn hot we needed to be cooled down! And don't get me started on the fast food prices! So why not just spend another $100+ per day for fast passes since you're already in so deep! I mean you don't want to spend $8,000 just to get in the door then spend all day standing in lines!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I'm going next week 4/2-4/10 and I just booked my fast passes this morning. This time I also have a Pirates at 10:00, then at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00 I have Tiana's, Haunted Mansion, 7 Dwarfs, and Tron. Once I scan into Pirates at 10:00 I will attempt to get a Space Mt, Peter Pan, or a Jungle Cruise but I will fail because they'll all be booked. So I'll end up with Little Mermaid or a Tomorrowland Speedway.

From your example, Space Mtn, Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise all have additional scheduled Lightning Lane release times throughout the day. Your timing has to be right because they can go very quickly but these can be picked up as 4th, 5th and 6th selections. They may not be available right at 10 am, but they will pop up throughout the day, and the return times are generally within 45-60 minutes of the release.

This info could help you get 8 - 10 good multipasses even on busy days, especially if you park hop.

 

[scrappinginontario]

This Thrill Data link is a good one to keep on hand to see what LL availability is looking like for upcoming dates.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

My Lightning Lane philosophy is if I'm spending $2,200 to fly (for two of us from JFK, seriously it's $1,100 per person round trip), and $2,000 for tickets (10-days in early April, I think that was the cost), and I'm paying whatever the hotel costs (a few thousand), then I'm definitely spending to get lightning lanes to 'get my money's worth'. Of course the lightning lanes MP is like $35 per person and ILLs are like $20 per person, so that's an average of like $120 per day X 8 days (no LL on arrival or departure day) so I'm in for another $1,000. But it doesn't matter because I already spent so much to get there in the first place I may as well just keep paying and paying! I mean when I was there in August I was paying $15 for two Mickey Ice Cream bars and a coke every four hours because it was so damn hot we needed to be cooled down! And don't get me started on the fast food prices! So why not just spend another $100+ per day for fast passes since you're already in so deep! I mean you don't want to spend $8,000 just to get in the door then spend all day standing in lines!

This is a pretty good analysis and similar to how I justify LLMP prices.

On a recent visit, we had 4 day park hoppers for a family of 8. LLMP for all 4 days ran just over $800, but we gathered and used 35 sets of passes over the visit. That comes out to about $2.85 per person per ride which seems pretty reasonable.

We don’t purchase Single Passes though as we’ve got other strategies for those. That money is save for Mickey Bars and Dole Whips.

 

[Former DVC Owner]

From your example, Space Mtn, Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise all have additional scheduled Lightning Lane release times throughout the day. Your timing has to be right because they can go very quickly but these can be picked up as 4th, 5th and 6th selections. They may not be available right at 10 am, but they will pop up throughout the day, and the return times are generally within 45-60 minutes of the release.

This info could help you get 8 - 10 good multipasses even on busy days, especially if you park hop.

I did not know that. Thanks for the tip. I'll check throughout the day and see if I get lucky.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I did not know that. Thanks for the tip. I'll check throughout the day and see if I get lucky.

There’s more to it than that. The Thrill Data site linked above has an overwhelming amount of information on this topic. Just look for WDW Lightning Lane Additional Availability.

I was skeptical at first by this works just as advertised. There are scheduled times each day when these drops occur. You just need to be ready and quick as they do go very fast.

Spending a couple of minutes to get a good set of passes is much more efficient than the old refresh method which was kind of hit and miss.