Former Cast Members Reveal One MAJOR Tip for Booking Lightning Lanes in Disney World!

There are so many things to think about when it comes to planning your Disney World trip! There are tons of different hotels to choose from, foods to add to your bucket list, and more. Another major thing to think about? What Lightning Lanes to choose!

Lightning Lane in Animal Kingdom

We spoke to a former Walt Disney World Cast Member, and they dropped a major tip for when you’re booking for your next trip!

Lightning Lanes can make your Disney trip more magical or more stressful, but this one major tip can be a game changer on your next trip to see Mickey! Lightning Lane is Disney’s skip-the-line service that comes in three different tiers. The first, and most frequently used, is Lighting Lane Multi Pass. Multi Pass gives you access to most of the Lightning Lanes in Disney World with a guaranteed 3 Lightning Lanes.

Lightning Lane

If you’re staying at a Disney World hotel, you can book your Lightning Lanes 7 days before your park day. If you’re staying off-property, you can book them 3 days in advance. Once you use your first Lightning Lane on the day of your visit, you can then continue to book throughout the day, holding a maximum of 3 Lightning Lanes at a time.

Dumbo Lightning Lane

The next tier is Single Pass! Single Pass gives you access to the most popular ride in each park, once per day. In Magic Kingdom, there are actually two. One is for Tron Lightcycle / Run and the other is for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Rise of the Resistance is the single pass in Hollywood Studios with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind taking the top spot in EPCOT. And then there is Avatar Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom.

©Disney

Finally, the newest tier is the Lighting Lane Premier Pass! The Premier Pass gives you access to every Lightning Lane in the park of your choosing, but it’s going to cost you a pretty penny. There’s no booking, no stress, you just walk right up and tap in. For pricing, this is the range per park.

Magic Kingdom: $379-$449 plus tax
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $139-$199 plus tax
EPCOT: $169-$249 plus tax
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $289-$339 plus tax

So, you’re definitely shelling out the cash for less booking stress.

©Disney

So now that we understand, what is the one major tip when it comes to booking your Lightning Lanes? Specifically with multi pass, you need to screenshot when you confirm your Lightning Lane times. Here’s what we mean. When you book your Lightning Lanes, they are saved for you on your My Disney Experience account where you can check your return times, modify times, and adjust as needed. If they’re saved for you, though, why should you screenshot your times?

Living with the Land Lightning Lane

While we love the My Disney Experience app, it isn’t perfect. We’ve had times when the app has glitched, removing our Lightning Lane times! This doesn’t happen often, we would even say it’s super rare, but when it does happen, you might be out of luck. If you have screenshots of your Lightning Lane times and the app glitches, you can head over to a guest relations tent and see if they can help fix the issue.

Guest Relations Tent

There are several blue tents scattered throughout the parks with the title Guest Experience Team written on them! These are the guest relations tents that can save you from walking all around the parks looking for help when you have an issue or question. They can’t always solve your problem but if you have evidence that you, at one point, held that Lightning Lane time, the guest experience team can try to help you as much as they can.

Guest Experience moved

At the end of the day, even if you never have to use one of your screenshots, they operate kinda like insurance! It’s nice to have it just in case. It’s also important to remember that Lightning Lanes are not a necessity for your Disney vacation. Lightning Lanes allow you to save some time and avoid extra sun exposure, but you don’t need them. There aren’t any rides in Disney World that you have to pay to get on.

Kali River Rapids Lightning Lane sign in Disney’s Animal Kingdom

So there you have it! This former cast member tip can give you a bit of insurance on your Lightning Lane policy on your Disney World trip. Using this one major tip can save you tons of time and stress on your next Disney trip! As always, don’t forget to keep following DFB for all of your Lightning Lane tips and tricks.

I Booked a Disney World Hotel Just for the Lightning Lane Perks; and I’d Do It Again in a Heartbeat

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Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.

Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!

What is your favorite Lightning Lane hack? Tell us in the comments!