What Are Individual Lightning Lane Selections
The introduction of the new Genie feature on the My Disney Experience App(MDE) created two new ways to skip the stand-by queue, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Selections. For this breakdown we will be focusing on the Individual Lightning Lane Selections.
For the most popular high-demand rides you can now make a la carte reservations, kind of like FASTPASS and FastPass+, but for a fee. Is the line for your favorite ride always too long? Now you can pay a one-time, per-ride fee to skip the line (for select rides). You can use individual Lightning Lane pay-per-ride selections for a particular attraction once per day. You can pay to upgrade for up to two different rides per person, per day. You may purchase both of them at the same time (even if you're hopping to another park). These can sell out quickly for popular attractions such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Let’s breakdown some of the things you should know about Individual attraction selections:
Individual attraction selections will be made on the same day of your visit and can be used across multiple theme parks.
You can book a maximum of two individual Lightning Lane attractions per person, per day, and you can't book the same attraction twice.
This option is available to all guests with or without Genie+.
You can purchase via the Disney Genie service in the My Disney Experience app at Disney World and the Disneyland app at Disneyland on the same day as your visit.
Standby lines and free virtual queues remain as options for all individual Lightning Lane attractions.
There are no refunds! If you miss your window you’re out of luck. Now if you were stuck on a ride or have a reason for missing, I’m sure a cast member will be happy to assist.
What happens if the ride I purchase breaks down or closes?
If one of the Individual Lightning Lane options breaks down during your reserved time window, you’ll want to keep an eye on the My Disney Experience app! Here, your Lightning Lane pass will be updated to reflect that you may return at any point later in the day. NOTE: It will not automatically refund your purchase of the ride, it will just change into this pass
Let’s talk about the Price
Pricing for this option varies by date, attraction and park. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure could cost $9 per person on Sept 8th, but say, on Oct. 23, it would cost $11 per person. This will very do to park capacity for that day. The As of now, prices for individual selections will range between $7 to $15 not including tax.
How early can you book?
Guests of a Disney Resort hotel (and other select hotels such as Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels and Shades of Green) at Disney World can make their first purchase starting at 7 a.m. on the day of their visit. All other guests may book once the park opens for the day. You can pick individual selections for any time frame that is available throughout the day.
If you’re park hopping but not a Disney World hotel guest and want to make a selection for your second park, you will have to wait until the other park opens to purchase. The good news is you don't have to be in the tapped into the park to make the selection.
Which Attractions offer Individual Lightning Lane Selection?
Magic Kingdom Park:
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain
EPCOT:
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure — offers a free virtual queue and pay-per-ride access (and yes, that means you could ride twice if you wanted to!)
Frozen Ever After
Disney's Hollywood Studios:
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance — now offering a standby line
Mickeys and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Animal Kingdom:
Avatar Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest
The big question is it worth it for your vacation?
In Disney World, time is money. You've already invested alot into your vacation. This is absolutely a cash grab from WDW, no question. We here at Wave of the Wand try to provide you with all the details, tips and tricks to save your money. If you’re a major planner when going to the parks you may be able to avoid the larger wait times for these popular attraction. That being said skipping a 1-2 hour line can be a wonderful benefit. Our recommendation it that if you chose to use this option your best use of your money will be Rise of the Resistance(ROTR) in Hollywood Studios. Make sure to purchase this attraction at 7am or my may miss your opportunity. As of now the price for ROTR is $15.00 per person + tax. We do not see the price being reduced anytime soon.
If you feel like you’re not wanting to pay anymore money that you already have try rope dropping! Guest staying in a Disney Resort will have 30 minute early access to the parks. Another option is to ride right before park closing. As long as you’re in light before the park officially closes you’ll be able to ride. Now this option can be risky because of possible ride break downs. If a ride breaks down at park closure you will not be able to ride.
As always we hope this help and we wish you and your family a magical vacation. If you would like assistance with planning your trip at no cost to you please contact us. If you would like to stay up informed on all the latest park news please subscribe and like us on social media.
