Last Updated: October 16, 2024
Introduction
This post is intended to contain all key information on how to utilize Lightning Lane. If you find any errors, have suggestions for additional information to include, or make note of any changes to processes and procedures, reply in the thread below and I will update this lead post.
Genie
Genie is a free plug-in to the Disneyland app that allows you to build an itinerary in advance and adjust your plans as you go. Genie offers suggestions for attractions or meals as your day progresses, which you can add to your itinerary or ignore. The “Genie+” moniker is no longer used to refer to Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Lightning Lane
Lightning Lane (LL) is a special entrance for those who have paid for / received the privilege (more on how below) that bypasses the standby queue and requires only a short wait to board the ride. Most Lightning Lane queues join the standby queue before any pre-shows; however, some elements of the queue may be bypassed.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP, formerly known as "Genie+) costs $32 per person per day in advance, or variable pricing day of (starting at $32 but more on high demand days – highest price observed is $35), and allows each guest to make a limited number of reservations to use the Lightning Lane on select attractions. Unlike WDW, the purchase of LLMP at DLR includes PhotoPass for the day. Below is the list of eligible attractions for each park:
DL
- Autopia
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Haunted Mansion
- Indiana Jones Adventure
- it’s a small world
- Matterhorn Bobsleds
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
DCA
- Goofy’s Sky School
- Grizzly River Run
- Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!
- Incredicoaster
- The Little Mermaid
- Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Toy Story Midway Mania!
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
Rules:
- Advance Purchase Guests may purchase LLMP in advance for the duration of your ticket - no selecting specific days allowed. Magic Key holders cannot purchase LLMP in advance.
- Day-of Purchase Alternatively, guests may purchase LLMP day-by-day upon scanning into the park. When purchasing day of, you are not required to purchase for all days, but you can only buy one day at at time. Magic Key holders receive a 20% discount on the purchase of LLMP.
- First LL Reservation All guests may apply for your first LL reservation upon scanning into a park on the day of your visit.
- Return Time The 1-hour return window assigned for your LL reservation will be the next available time (similar to old Fastpass / Maxpass); you may not select a later time. LL reservations are distributed sequentially until all times are gone.
- Additional LL Reservations A guest may apply for additional LLs at the earliest of:
a) Once you tap in (at the first tap point, if applicable) at your most recently booked LL attraction
b) The end time of the return window (excluding the grace period) of your most recently booked LL attraction
c) Two hours after you obtain your most recent LL - Limitation on Stacking Each LL yields one new LL EITHER after 2 hours OR after tapping in, i.e., you CAN’T receive a new LL BOTH after 2 hours AND when tapping in thereafter.
- Park Hopping If you plan to hop, you may apply for a LL reservation at the other park, but you are limited to return windows after 11am (all regular hopping rules still apply). You must wait till return times advance beyond hopping time in due course.
- Attraction Repeats You may NOT receive a repeat LL reservation for any attraction within the same day. (There is no limitation on re-riding using the standby line.) Exception: if a ride is down during your return window and the LL converts to a “Multi-Experience Pass,” you can obtain a new regular LL for the same attraction.
- No Show If you do not tap in for your LL reservation (no show), it is considered used once the return window closes and you CANNOT get a repeat LL reservation for that attraction.
- Modifying a Reservation You may modify an existing LL reservation to a different return window or to a different attraction or within the same park. Modifying a reservation does not affect the 2-hour clock.
- Cancelling a Reservation You may cancel a LL reservation obtained through LLMP (not the case with ILL - see below). Cancelling your most recently booked LL resets your 2-hour clock. It is recommended to modify instead to avoid resetting the clock.
- Limits per Day Other than the above, there is no hard limit on the number of LL reservations you can get in a single day, other than the # of attractions in the park (if not hopping) and the constraints of time and subject to availability.
- Grace Period Return times are enforced similar to MaxPass: 5 minutes before and 15 minutes after the 1-hour window are generally ok; any time before or after the grace period is subject to CM approval. WARNING: There have been some reports of the grace period not being honored. Be prepared to be rejected if you are late for your LL window.
- Attraction Closed If an attraction is temporarily closed during your window, the return time for your LL will generally be automatically extended to the end of the day and may be valid for multiple attractions.
- Overlapping Reservations You may book LLs for the same or partially overlapping windows. (Limitations on conflicting dining reservations still apply.)
Tips
- Stacking Reservations You may hold multiple LLs at a time. For example, you could obtain one LL reservation at 9am with a 4pm return time, another at 11am with a 5pm return time, and another at 1pm with a 6pm return time (all subject to availability of those attractions and return times). Stacking is helpful when leaving the park for an afternoon break – you can continue to book from a remote location. However, you can not stack before morning arrival as you must tap in to one of the parks in order to book your first LL.
- Lapsed Reservation You can reserve a new LL when the return window closes for a previous LL reservation (i.e., it is considered “used”), but you can still use the lapsed LL in the 15-minute grace period.
- Refresh Method LLMP will often show you more availability if you continue to refresh the app while looking for availability for a specific attraction.
- Drop Times Additional LL capacity may be added throughout the day at set “drop times.” Dedicated threads for drop times can be found by searching the Disneyland topic on the forum.
- Order of Priority Generally the order of priority for LL attractions at each park is as follows:
- DL: IJ > Space > BTMRR > Matterhorn > MMRR > RRCTS > PotC > MFSR > other
- DCA: Gotg * > TSMM > WS > Soarin > Incredicoaster > GRR * > Monsters > Goofy
*Priority may vary due to heat/weather (GRR) or holiday overlay (HM, iasw, GotG).
Lightning Lane Single Pass
Separate from LLMP, Lightning Lane Single Pass (LLSP) can be purchased through the App for a variable amount (plus tax) for the attractions listed below. Observed prices so far are included in parentheses - these are subject to change daily and are expected to increase with crowd levels and inflation.
DL
- Rise of the Resistance ($25-28)
DCA
- Radiator Springs Racers ($15-22)
Rules
- LLMP vs LLSP You DO NOT have to purchase LLMP to purchase ILL selections (but you may use both services).
- Limits per Day Guests are limited to 2 LLSP purchases per day (across both parks).
- Duplicates Guests may NOT select the same attraction for both of their LLSP selections.
- No Minimum Guests may purchase only one LLSP in a day (not required to purchase two).
- Eligibility All guests may purchase both of their LLSP selections for any LLSP attraction upon scanning into either park.
- Return Time The 1-hour return window assigned for your LLSP reservation will be the next available time (similar to Maxpass); you may NOT select a later time. LLSP reservations are distributed sequentially until all times are gone. (This is different from WDW, where you can select your return time.)
- Park Hopping If you plan to hop, you may purchase an LLSP at the other park(s), but you are limited to return windows after 11am (all regular hopping rules still apply). You must wait till return times advance beyond hopping time in due course.
- Cancellations There are no cancellations, modifications, or refunds allowed with LLSP purchases
- Attraction Closed If the attraction is closed during your return window, your return time will generally be extended automatically to the end of the day.
- Refunds If the attraction remains closed throughout the day, you may receive an automatic refund, or be able to obtain a refund or gift card with value equivalent to your purchase from Guest Services. Any other refund requests are subject to approval by Guest Services.
- Grace Period Return times are enforced similar to Maxpass: 5 minutes before and 15 minutes after the 1-hour window are generally ok; any time before or after the grace period is subject to CM approval.
Tips
- High Demand LLSP Rise of the Resistance will sometimes sell out in the mid afternoon.
- Cost-Benefit Be mindful of the wait times for the attractions. You may not need to purchase an LLSP if the standby wait time is acceptable to you, particularly at rope drop or park close.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass
Beginning on October 23rd, DLR will offer Lightning Lane Premier Pass (LLPP) which allows each guest one entrance to each LL attraction without the need for a reservation.
Rules
- Both Parks LLPP is valid for both parks. You can not buy LLPP for only one park.
- One Ride Per Attraction Multiple rides on the same attraction with LLPP are not permitted.
- LLPP with MP / SP / VQ You may buy LLMP and LLSP in addition to LLPP. VQ and standby will be available to LLPP guests.
- All Guests with an APR All guests with a park reservation (APR) may purchase LLPP before their trip. All guests may purchase LLPP after entrance into the park, if available.
- Timing of Purchase Guests with an APR may purchase LLPP up to 2 days prior to the day of their visit.
- All LL Attractions Included All LLMP and LLSP attractions will be included with LLPP.
- Pricing Pricing for LLPP will be $400 per person for all remaining days in 2024. Pricing in 2025 will be variable from $300-400 per person depending on expected crowds.
The service will be offered in “very limited quantities” and is not expected to significantly impact other guests.
WDW vs Disneyland
Below are key differences between WDW and Disneyland as it relates to Lightning Lanes.
- Advance Purchase:
- Disneyland: LLMP can be purchased in advance as an add-on for the length of a ticket (not available for Magic Keys), or on the day of upon entering a park. LLSP may only be purchased on the day of your visit upon entering a park.
- WDW: Guests can purchase LLMP and LLSP in advance (see WDW LL thread for details).
- Booking Time:
- Disneyland: You can book your first LLMP or LLSP attraction once you are tapped into a park (this includes the taps at the monorail station).
- WDW: You can book (and modify) up to three LLMP attractions and both LLSP per day in advance.
- Return Window:
- Disneyland: Both LLMP and LLSP attractions dispense sequentially. You have to wait till the next available time advances to your preferred window. Lately most LLSP attractions have near-immediate availability.
- WDW: You can select any available LLMP / LLSP window.
- Hopping Time:
- Disneyland: Hopping time is 11am. You must wait till return times advance beyond hopping time in due course. You can book in your second park without booking in your first park as long as there is an available arrival window past hopping time.
- WDW: You may hop immediately upon tapping in to your first park. You can prebook in either your first park or any hopping park, but all prebooked selections must be in the same park. Upon tapping in to any LLMP attraction, you may modify / book in a second park without restriction.
- Number of LLMPs:
- Disneyland: You may select one LL at a time but you can stack LLs every two hours if you haven’t used your previously booked LL; there is no set limit on the number of active LLs you can hold.
- WDW: You may hold up to three active LLs at a time, in addition to any expired LLs and MEPs. There is no “two hour rule” that allows stacking additional active LLs.
- Photopass:
- Disneyland: Photopass is included with LLMP, including both on-ride photos and other in-park photographers. On-ride photos are currently offered complimentary to all guests.
- WDW: On-ride photos are included with LLMP, but download of photos taken by other Photopass photographers requires purchase of Memory Maker. There are currently no complimentary photos at WDW.
- On-site Advantages:
- Disneyland: On-site guests are eligible for 30 minutes early entry at one of the two parks which alternates each day. This benefit is not offered to good neighbor hotels or special tickets as has been the case in the past. In addition, there are dedicated entrances to DCA for GCH and PPH guests.
- WDW: All on-site guests (including named Good Neighbor hotels) receive 30 minutes early entry at each park every day. Deluxe resort guests are eligible for extra evening hours, generally Monday (Epcot) and Wednesday (MK), though other parks are occasionally offered.
- Pricing:
- Disneyland: The purchase of LLMP / LLSP is not subject to tax. Magic Key Holders receive a 20% discount on the purchase of LLMP (but not LLSP). There is no option to purchase LLMP for only one park for a lower price.
- WDW: Purchase of LLMP and LLSP is subject to tax. No annual passholder discounts apply. You can purchase LLMP for any one starting park, with lower prices at EP / AK. There is no additional charge for booking LLs at a hopping park.
- Premier Pass:
- Disneyland: LLPP is available 2 days prior to all guests with an APR. LLPP is valid for both parks and cannot be purchased for only one park.
- WDW: LLPP is available up to 7 days prior for length of stay to Deluxe Resort guests only. LLPP is valid for only one park and cannot be purchased for two parks on a single day.
Virtual Queue
Virtual Queue (boarding groups) are currently used at Haunted Mansion. They have previoulsy been used at RotR, IJ, and Webslingers, and may be used in the future at new or popular attractions. For more information on joining a virtual queue, see this thread.
Tips
- VQ + LLSP You CAN apply for a Boarding Group and ALSO purchase an LLSP, if available. In this way you can ride twice without waiting standby. (However, with LLSP, you skip the ~30-minute wait that those using the Virtual Queue typically wait in.)
Rider Swap (RS)
Rider Swap LLMP, LLSP, and Virtual Queue can be used with Rider Swap (which is also available for Standby riders - continue reading below). To skip the Standby line, all riders must have a LL reservation (or Boarding Group, if applicable). Non-riders (i.e., children under the height requirement) do not need a LL reservation.
After reporting to the LL, a CM will scan all LL reservations and assign a RS pass to Group 2 riders (1 adult waiting with non-riding child(ren) plus one repeat rider). Group 1 riders will enter the LL immediately. Group 2 will return to the LL after Group 1 rides. One rider is able to ride twice (once in the first group, once with the waiting adult). The RS pass does not need to be redeemed immediately, but each guest can only have one RS pass at a time (two adults and respective repeat riders in a party CAN have a RS pass for separate attractions but the RS holders may not overlap).
Using Rider Swap without a LL reservation / Boarding Group works the same way, except Group 1 must wait in the Standby line rather than using the LL. Group 2 returns to the LL. No one needs a LL reservation or BG if Group 1 intends to wait Standby. Instead, everyone gets in the Standby line and at a certain point, a CM will assign a RS pass to the Group 2 riders, at which point Group 2 and any non-riders may exit the queue. In many cases, you can send runners up to the CM checkpoint to get admission scanned while the rest of the party waits in line to save time.
Disability Access Service (DAS)
DAS is compatible with both LLMP and LLSP. Guests may use all three systems together or separately.
Helpful Websites:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/lightning-lane-passes/
https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disneyland-disability-access-service-das/
